Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
Lot 393
A LARGE BRONZE TRIPOD INCENSE BURNER AND COVER, DING 17th century
17 May 2023, 11:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £6,375 inc. premium
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Olivia Xu
Associate Specialist
Chen Xie
Specialist
A LARGE BRONZE TRIPOD INCENSE BURNER AND COVER, DING
17th century
Raised on three cabriole legs issuing from the mouths of lions, the compressed globular body flanked by a pair of flaring S-shaped handles with shaped panels of diaper patterns, the waisted neck decorated with archaistic leiwen pattern, the cover with two trigrams surmounted by a finial in the shape of a Buddhist lion resting its right front paw on a ball issuing a ribbon in thread-relief, with dark patina. 52.5cm (20 3/4in) high. (2).
Raised on three cabriole legs issuing from the mouths of lions, the compressed globular body flanked by a pair of flaring S-shaped handles with shaped panels of diaper patterns, the waisted neck decorated with archaistic leiwen pattern, the cover with two trigrams surmounted by a finial in the shape of a Buddhist lion resting its right front paw on a ball issuing a ribbon in thread-relief, with dark patina. 52.5cm (20 3/4in) high. (2).
Footnotes
Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價
十七世紀 銅獅鈕朝冠耳三足爐
Published and Illustrated: Michael Goedhuis, Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900, London, 1988, no.67.
展覽著錄：Michael Goedhuis著，《Chinese and Japanese Bronzes A.D.1100-1900》，倫敦，1988年，編號67
The trigrams on the lid of the present lot are qian (乾掛) and li (離掛), symbolising 'heaven' (suggesting untiring strength and power) and 'fire' (associated with brightness) in Daoist internal alchemy. This incense burner was thus probably used at an altar.
For a very similar bronze incense burner (without a lid), see O.Munsterberg, Chinesische Kunsgeschichte, Vol.II, Esslingen, 1912, p.147. Compare with a similar large ding-shaped incense burner with 'heaven-soaring' handles and a roaring lion seated on the lid, Ming dynasty, illustrated in Food for the Ancestors Flowers for the Gods, Genoa, 2017, pl.16.1.
See a similar inscribed bronze 'lion' incense burner and cover, Ming dynasty, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 2 November 2022, lot 304.